A week of babysitting
by MissKluck
Summary: What happens when our all favorite Uchiha gets assigned to a mission of babysitting? And why is suddenly an exhausted Sakura joining in on the mission? And, last but not least, where did all these thoughts of Sakura as a mom come from? SasuSaku one-shot.


Here's one-shot number 2. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, only this one-shot is mine

**A week of babysitting**

In the office of the fifth hokage, one Sasuke Uchiha stood, glaring heavily at the grinning hokage. He had just gotten to know that the elders were to be punished and that he would get off the hook easy since he had helped defeat Kaguya during the war. So why, might you ask, was he still glaring? Well, the answer is simple: his punishment consisted of doing only D-rank missions, and his first mission was to babysit a pair of kids. Now, Sasuke knew a lot of things, but one thing he didn't know was how to handle kids. He had never had the need to watch over such creatures before and, although he was wishing for some himself, it was in the far future when he'd settle down to revive his clan.

Sasuke didn't exactly have anything against children, but it wasn't exactly how he'd visioned himself paying back his debt to the village for his betrayal either. And one thing he knew for sure was that if Naruto got a hold of the information that Sasuke would be babysitting some kids then he could forget everything that even came close to the word dignity for the next months. Just as Sasuke was about to excuse himself, thinking that it couldn't get any worse than it already was, the doors opened behind him and in came Sakura. She stopped just inside the door, looking up from a stack papers to notice the other two in the room. Her eyes widened a bit before she gave a little smile, awkwardly uttering: "Oh, hello Sasuke-kun. I, um, didn't know you were here still."

They stared at each other for a moment, Sasuke giving a small nod in greeting and reply, and neither noticed the way the hokage's grin widened. Sakura shook her head a little, as if coming out of a daze, and she quickly stepped up to Tsunade's desk, walking past Sasuke. "Um, Tsunade-shishou, I'm finished with the lab results, as you requested, however the tests came out a little different than we expected and-"

"Sakura, you like children, don't you?" Tsunade interrupted, raising a hand to silence her student.

The sudden question caught Sakura completely off-guard and she awkwardly stuttered a reply, "Eh, um, I guess?"

"Wonderful! I'm assigning you to a new mission along with Sasuke Uchiha. The mission is D-ranked, you are to watch a bunch of brats for some evenings while their parents help out with rebuilding the village. Here's the scroll with all the necessarily details and Sasuke has already been filled in quite a bit so if there's anything you're uncertain about, just ask him. Now off you go, I'll take a look at those results myself. Have fun!" Tsunade grinned almost wickedly as she, while talking, stood up and walked towards the door, dragging them both with her, and before they could even begin to protest, the door was slammed in their faces.

And so, before either teen really knew what had happened, they were standing outside the hokage's office again, surprised expressions on both their faces as they took in what had just happened. 'Well,' Sakura thought dryly, 'that wasn't exactly what I had expected when I got up this morning.' She looked down at the mission scroll in her hand, silently cursing her mentor and her manipulative ways. Still, a mission consisting of babysitting didn't sound that bad, and especially if Sasuke was to be her teammate on that. Sakura's mind suddenly froze as she took the thought of Sasuke being a babysitter in and it was all she could do not to burst out laughing right there.

Even if they weren't arguing or ignoring each other, she and Sasuke didn't exactly have the most perfect of friendships at the moment, it was actually more on the awkward side of the scale, and so she reasoned that suddenly bursting out laughing might not be the wisest idea, even if it was Sasuke as a babysitter that was the reason for her entertainment. Silently she glanced over at her companion, wondering if he found the mission as ridiculously weird as she did. Though, with him wearing his usual stone-faced mask, she didn't really get to know if he felt the same way. The only thing that shone through his mask of indifference was irritation, probably for the hokage and her mission, and Sakura found she couldn't blame him. Not if he had to be a babysitter for the next weeks as repayment to the village. Again, she had to stifle her laughter.

Then a thought hit her: what if Naruto was to find out? Oh gosh, that wouldn't only be bad for Sasuke, but probably for her too as Ino would then definitely find out and who knew what she'd do with such information? Sakura could already feel a headache coming on, but she refused to let it get to her. Instead, she walked a little away from the office, deciding that she needed to know exactly what Tsunade had planned for them in order for her to make a plan on how to avoid two of the closest people in her life. For a moment Sakura wondered if it was worth it, it couldn't be that bad if Ino and Naruto found out, right? But then she quickly put that thought away. It wasn't just some gossiping girls that would find out, no it was the loud-mouthed hero of Konoha and Konoha's loudest, most gossiping girl. She and Sasuke would never be left alone if such information came out about them, neither by his fangirls or the rest of Konoha really. They seemed to be quite fond of gossiping actually.

"What does it say?" Sasuke suddenly asked from behind her, making Sakura jump a little as she was brought out of her thoughts.

"Oh, um," she quickly read through the first sentences before answering, "We are to watch two pairs of children starting this afternoon at their home. We'll watch them each afternoon and evening all week, watching over them, feeding them and putting them to bed. Really, it's just like the usual babysitting assignment except it's a mission and we have to watch them five evenings instead of one. It says that we can take whatever we want of refreshments and the sort as long as we clean up after ourselves and keep it tidy. The mission starts at 5pm and the place is not far from the hokage tower." Sakura took a glance at her watch. It was almost 12pm so it was still five hours until the mission would start. "Here's the exact address if you need it, I already know the place." Sakura handed him the scroll, smiling uncertainly as he took the scroll and glanced over it.

"Hn, thanks," Sasuke grunted in reply, looking up at Sakura once more. He opened his mouth, about to ask what plan of action they should make so as to be prepared for the mission when Sakura spoke up again.

"Well, I better get going, I still have four hours left of my hospital shift. I guess I'll see you later today Sasuke-kun." The uncertain smile was still there as she turned and quickly walked away, heading towards the hospital. Sasuke ended up just standing there outside of the hokage tower, looking after his former teammate until she disappeared around a corner. Then, as he realized what he was doing, he quickly turned away, a scowl on his face as he pondered over the reason he had been looking after Sakura just then. Reaching no immediate conclusion, at least none that he would admit to, Sasuke too walked towards the stairs leading down and out of the hokage tower, now headed to one of the many training fields of Konoha to get some training done and maybe by doing that come up with an idea for the coming babysitting mission.

Sasuke didn't come up with any plan however; he was just even more irritated with the hokage for giving him such a stupid mission. On his way back to his temporary apartment he had seen several teams returning and going out on missions, all missions probably being much better and important than watching a bunch of kids could ever be. Seeing that he had become a little short on time, Sasuke didn't bother to get anything to eat and just took a quick shower before heading out again. Even though he had returned to the village just after the war, and the war itself had ended only a few weeks ago, he had already gained a just as large fanclub as he had once had as a twelve-year-old boy. If anything, it seemed that the fanclub was even larger. Now both those who were at his age, as well as the younger girls and the older ones, all seemed infatuated with either one or both of Konoha's new heroes, many admiring both him and Naruto quite visibly.

And it seemed that this day too was no exception as he had already noticed several girls giggling as soon as they saw him, some had called out to him and others were even following him, and that quite indiscreetly. He just sighed over their lack of brainpower and found himself praising whatever was up in the high heavens for at least having Sakura mature as much as to get out of her fangirlmode. Really, that was the only think that didn't seem so bad with the mission. He wouldn't have to do it alone and it was Sakura, someone he knew, and not some unknown girl who might end up being a massive stalker that he had to spend his next evenings with. Sakura too seemed to have gained quite the many admirers even though she, to Naruto's great amusement and Sasuke's bemusement, didn't seem to have noticed anything new. Really, Sasuke actually would have found it quite amusing that parts of Sakura still resembled the shy girl she had been years ago, had it not been for the fact that many of her admirers seemed to take it as a positive to try and get even more of her attention, not that he cared of course.

When he arrived he found that Sakura was already there, talking politely to a pair of grown-ups that Sasuke deemed to be the parents. For a moment Sasuke just stood and observed them, watching how calmly Sakura talked to the parents despite the children who were running around her feet and pulling excitedly on her hands. Then, as she looked over and smiled at him he noticed the slightly dark circles that were visible under her eyes, and for a moment Sasuke found himself wondering how he hadn't seen them before. Suddenly everyone was looking at him and he quickly walked over as to not cause any scenes.

"Hi Sasuke-kun," Sakura greeted smiling. She then turned to their employees and introduced, "I'm guessing you all know Sasuke Uchiha? He has been sent on this mission along with me to watch over your children the next afternoons. The hokage herself has anointed him and we promise to do whatever we can to take care of your children." Sasuke nodded in greeting to them, choosing to keep silent and let Sakura do the talk.

The father was a bit skeptic to the Uchiha despite the praise both Sakura and the hokage had given him, but in the end both parents were convinced, especially since they several times got the reassurance that Sakura, head doctor and apprentice of the hokage, would be there too. Some minutes later, the parents were off, leaving Sakura and Sasuke with two pairs of children, two boys and two girls. All the children then eagerly pushed and pulled on Sakura, all wanting to show her where they lived and Sasuke walked after his half stumbling ex-teammate, watching her in silence. Since the village, and their own house, was being rebuilt, the family lived in what had once been a large house.

Sasuke actually found himself pleasantly surprised by how good the house still was despite all that he had heard happened to Konoha in his time away. It was no luxurious house, but neither did the house seem to miss anything. As the children were between four and eight years of age, toys lay scattered around in a corner of the living room, near some couches, and this was where the children pulled Sakura too. One of the girls seemed to start talking about a doll, showing it to Sakura, before the other one eagerly pulled out another doll. Then one of the boys started waving around a car and suddenly all four children were all showing off their different toys to a quite startled Sakura. Sasuke, who had no real idea of what he should do, just ended up standing by one of the couches, watching the children and Sakura interact.

It did seem like Sakura knew quite a lot about children for her young age, then again she was a skilled doctor and had probably had many children as patients. Her interaction and actions were natural, nothing forces, as if she could well fit in to such a job of watching children on a daily basis. She would probably make a good mother too, although she might have some moments where her short temper would get the better of her, it did seem like she would be able to handle such a task very well. Just then, as Sasuke started wondering where those thoughts came from, he felt a slight tug on his hand and he looked down right into a pair of innocent, sky-blue eyes. The younger of the two girls stood there, looking up at him with her large eyes, as her golden locks adored her face gracefully.

"You play?" She held up a doll for Sasuke to take. Sasuke however didn't know how to respond and looked up in search for Sakura to help him. He found her watching him, and as she noticed his gaze she smiled slightly, nodding her head. Sasuke felt himself narrowing his eyes slightly in doubt before he looked down at the girl again and carefully took the doll. The girl then grinned widely at him, startling Sasuke again, and she then took a hold of Sasuke, dragging him with her over to the other children and Sakura who were all watching.

Sakura let out a little giggle by how this little girl could drag the mighty Uchiha around, and received a slight glare in reply which had her giggling all the more. To that Sasuke smiled a little before another doll was stuck up in his face as the other girl came over, intent to play with him too. And so the hours went by, and even though the children mostly played with Sakura, they did their best to include Sasuke too who, so his surprise, found himself enjoying the company of the children and Sakura. He rediscovered sides of himself which he thought was long forgotten and buried, but he found that he didn't mind them as he once had done. The boys had after some time warmed up to Sasuke and so had started to attack him, play tackling him to the ground several times. They were also quite eager for Sasuke to tell them about the ninja life, and the oldest one had then proudly taken Sasuke with him to his temporarily room to show him his acceptance into the ninja academy.

When the two had come out again, lead by the boy, the two girls were playing along while Sakura had went into the kitchen to make some supper, the younger boy accompanying her. It seemed like both boys had a slight infatuation with Sakura, though both had different ways of showing it, which was quite amusing as they were so alike in almost everything else. And so, since the eldest boy didn't like competition, he too went out to the kitchen to try and win the heart of the pinkhaired medic. Sasuke sat down with the two girls again, and as he did so he found them smiling secretly at him. He looked bemused at them, not really caring whether they had some big secret or not.

The eldest girl, who was at the age of seven, opened her mouth and spoke, "Sasuke-kun, are you Sakura-chan's boyfriend?"

Sasuke looked at the little girl in shock for a moment, not believing what had just come out of the little girls mouth. "Why would you ask such a stupid question?" He asked gruffly, having no intention whatsoever as to talk about love with a 7-year-old girl.

"Oh, because you and Sakura-chan behave just like mommy and daddy!" The other girl exclaimed happily, jumping to her feet in excitement. Sasuke just looked at the two girls in disbelief. Did girls really start to talk about such things in such a young age?

"Well, are you or are you not, Sasuke-kun?" The older girl asked impatiently.

"Hn, of course not," Sasuke grunted in reply.

"Oooh, but you would be so perfect for each other, like so cute! Oh c'mon, can't you just be Sakura-chan's boyfriend? Then you can play mommy and daddy together, and I can be the child!"

"No, I want to be their child!" The other, younger girl chimed in and so they started arguing. Sasuke could still not believe that they were implying such stupid things. Him and Sakura? No, definitely not. Or, well, Sasuke had to admit that if anything she was the most potential girl right now, but that was just because it seemed like the rest of the female population of Konoha lacked brainpower. And Hinata of course, but not only didn't Sasuke really know the girl, but he had also heard Naruto speak about her enough times already in the short period the peace had lasted to know that Hinata was off-limits, especially after how Naruto had saved her out of the konkyliene of Tsukuyomi. The idiot had been beaming to everybody around, telling everyone that would listen about his precious Hinata-chan. Still, now there wasn't any 'precious Sakura'chan' in Naruto's vocabulary anymore so Sasuke guessed he should be happy.

Wait, what? Where the heck had _that_ thought come from? Sasuke shook his head. Those girls was already starting to have a weird influence on him, something Sasuke did not like. Just then Sakura came out with a boy clinging to each leg and pronounced that supper was ready. Surprisingly, the children all ate their supper decently, and although there was some pushing and some arguing, the meal went pretty well. Then, as the clock neared eight and it was time for bed, the trouble started. At first the youngest boy pranked the two girls, running around with the heads of the dolls, making the girls cry and having Sasuke chase after the boy both to retrieve the heads and to give the boy a stern talk. Then the other boy started to act up, shooting balls of spit induced paper balls with a straw, chasing the girls around the house. All together it took one hour before Sakura and Sasuke finally managed to get all the children to bed, having to force them to change and brush their teeth before Sakura sung them a good night song and they could finally turn out the lights on the rooms.

The two teens sank down on one of the couches after the goodnight rounds were finished, both exhausted after their work. "Remind me to bring sleeping medicine to put in their food tomorrow," Sakura muttered, eyes closed, making Sasuke look over at her.

"Aa," he huffed in reply, smirking slightly. For a moment, Sasuke thought something over, before he asked, "Sakura?"

"Hm?"

"How did you become so good at tending to children?" Sakura opened her eyes, looking tiredly, but surprised over at him.

"Ah, um, well I guess I've always liked children? I mean not when they scream and go all wrong and such, but I have tended to a lot of children in my life and I can't exactly say I've tired of that yet. Also, they are such interesting persons, so small but many with such wisdom and insight that it's sometimes almost scary how well they handle stuff. They are brave little humans, many even braver than their parents." She gazed woefully into the air, as if thinking about something sad. Sasuke just looked at her, not sure if he should ask about it or not, but then the slight smile was back again. "But that's not what you wanted to hear, was it? Well, I have worked a lot with them, as I said, so I think that's where I've learnt it."

The smile was there, but yet right now it was one of the fakest ones Sasuke had ever seen. Thinking back to earlier that day, both to how reluctant and careful Sakura had been when playing with the children, and to the dark circles under her eyes and her sudden shift of emotions, as if to hide something, Sasuke started wondering what it was that Sakura wasn't telling him. Bitterly, Sasuke found that had he been Naruto Sakura had probably told him everything about what was bothering her already, just like she always used to do when they were small. Her eyes were closed again, head already lulling a little to the side as Sasuke asked, "Sakura, what happened today?"

"Should something have happened?" The reply came back, a little too fast to be normal for a girl on the borderline to sleep.

"Sakura," Sasuke said, a little more force behind her name now as he looked pointedly at her.

Sakura sighed and, avoiding Sasuke's gaze, told him, "I lost another patient today. A child, no older than the youngest boy we're watching over. He was such a, such a brave little boy, continuing to reassure his mother again and again how the operation would go splendid and how they'd all go out for ice cream and such later. The operation had a very high chance of failing as he was so little, and yet his belief didn't falter one second. And still, I lost him. I lost him, Sasuke-kun. I failed him, his mother and his family. I mean I guess after such a long shift I should never have taken such an operation, but it was needed or else he'd die, but then he died anyways. And I also promised Tsunade-shishou that I wouldn't cry anymore, that I wouldn't let such things affect me anymore, but how am I supposed to do that? He was just a little boy!" Sakura was crying freely, surprising both herself and Sasuke with how freely she talked to him, told him about her failure. "And then, when I came here today, I just couldn't stop thinking about it, couldn't help but feel that I would somehow end up failing these kids too, even though this is totally different from the operation, and I know it, I really know it, I just couldn't chase the feeling away." She buried her head in her hands, allowing herself to cry freely for the first time in quite a while.

Sasuke sat quite baffled beside her, wondering where the heck all that had come from and also what he was supposed to do about it. Did that girl usually keep so much hurt and emotion inside her, or was it just today especially? And so, not really knowing what else to do, Sasuke just sat there watching as the girl cried, watching how she seemed to slowly calm down again. He thought over what she had said and came to the conclusion that she still seemed to blame it all on herself, much like she seemed to always do. That stupid girl. "Sakura, you-"

"Yeah, I'm sorry Sasuke-kun," she sniffled, seemingly trying to force herself to calm completely down again, though some sobs still escaped. "I'm calmer now, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have burdened you with my breakdown, it was not professional. Maybe we should turn on the TV, then you won't have to-"

"Sakura, stop apologizing and stop taking the blame," Sasuke interrupted, looking at the girl who still hadn't dared to gaze at him yet.

"Yes, but I-"

"Just stop. It won't do you any good, it won't do the boys' family any good and it won't do the people around you any good. You did the best could do in such a situation, and I'm sure no one else could have done it any better. It was not your fault, Sakura." A certain softness that surprised both himself and Sakura had entered his voice, and as Sakura finally decided to look back at him, eyes puffy and red, Sasuke couldn't help but look at her with evident tenderness on his face. For a moment though Sasuke wondered if he had said something wrong since Sakura's eyes filled up with tears once again, but then she smiled, hugged him, and buried her face in his shirt as she cried some more. And again he let her cry, feeling how his shirt was slowly drenched with tears, but he didn't care. Somehow he felt some kind of strange satisfaction over the fact that Sakura would open up to him once more, and that she still could find comfort in him despite how the years had changed them both.

Finally, Sakura calmed down again, sniffling slightly as she muttered into his shirt, "Thank you Sasuke-kun."

"Aa," he grumbled, making his chest rumble right under her ear.

Sakura suddenly seemed to notice how she was almost lying across Sasuke, and so quickly got off of him, sitting down again a little away from him, embarrassingly muttering an apology. Sasuke scoffed, taking a hold of Sakura's shoulder and placing her head on his shoulder resting his own head on top of hers. "Annoying," he muttered, blushing slightly. Sakura smiled again, resting her head more comfortably on his shoulder as she closed her eyes. And somehow, by the comfort of just sitting there resting, mixed by the warm from the other and the rest of the house, the two teens fell asleep only to be startled awake again as the parents of the children came home some hours later.

Both teens quickly got up, blushing embarrassingly and dared not look at one another as they told the parents how everything had gone and said farewell. Stepping outside, they both still didn't dare to look at each other, especially Sakura as she now felt embarrassed not only by having slept on Sasuke's shoulder, but also having broken down in front of him and probably also having completely wetted his shirt with her tears. She had noticed however how the mother of the house had smiled at them, winking secretly at Sakura as they said their goodbyes for the evening. Oh gosh, what could they be thinking having found them sleeping on the couch together like that?

"Well, I guess we'll see each other tomorrow then Sasuke-kun," Sakura said, casting a quick glance on the Uchiha.

"Aa," he grunted, thinking about something. He then turned around to say something more, but Sakura had already started down the other way, making Sasuke just stare after her, wondering if he should chase after her or not to ask a question that had been burning on his mind for quite some time. But he was an Uchiha, and they did not chase after girls, did they now? Shrugging his shoulders Sasuke walked the other way, looking forward to come home and go to bed. At least in sleep the thoughts wouldn't bother him.

* * *

><p>And so the week quickly went by for Sasuke. He trained in the mornings and watched children with Sakura in the afternoons and evenings, irritated at finding out that he had grown to look forward to each afternoon. The week also helped him get a new perspective at a lot of things. Sasuke wanted children, there was no denying that, but at first it was more because that was the only way to revive his clan, but now he had actually grown to care for children too. He found that he actually did enjoy the time he spent with the children very much and in a weird way actually looked really forward to having some of his own.<p>

Then there was Sakura. He had always known she had a gentle, soft side, and experienced it some time too, but this was something else. The way she was with children was as if she already was a mother, which in some ways really weirded Sasuke out, but in other ways also admired her, not that he would ever admit that of course. During the week, as time passed by, he also found his mind often returning to the thought of Sakura as a mom for his children. At totally random times he would suddenly start to think about how life with her would be, how she would be as a girlfriend and wife, and also as a mother. Although he heavily denied these thoughts at first, throwing them away as soon as he realized what he was thinking about, he slowly found himself getting more and more comfortable with a life with Sakura by his side.

It he was to admit it, she was really the only person he could ever see himself getting married to and live together with. She too had her faults of course, but then he did too and when he thought about how she still had seemed to love him after so many years even without knowing his real reasons for all he'd done, he felt his feelings, whatever they might be for her, rise. He thought about how genuinely sad and frustrated she'd been when Naruto finally told her the truth about the Uchiha clan massacre, how she'd offered her help in any way she could, and, even though he was afraid to believe it, some part of him still really believed, really hoped that she still loved him. And that maybe he loved her too, or at least could come to love her.

It wasn't until Friday evening as they were putting the children to bed that Sasuke came to realize that their mission ended that day and also that he still wanted to spend more time with her, even without the mission. He had been watching her as he often found himself doing, and he noticed that she this day too seemed to have dark circles under her eyes. They were cleverly concealed with make-up, but still shone through, which meant she was probably even more deprived of sleep than she already seemed to be. Of course it wasn't that hard to find the source being that she still had shifts each day before coming to take care of the children in the evenings, the question was more about how deprived of sleep she really was. How much did she force herself to do each day, how much more than her usual work amount did she do?

Since Monday she hadn't seemed as tired, but Sasuke suspected that she was forcing herself even more than usual to look good in his and the parents eyes. Why, he didn't know, he just knew from what Naruto had said to him that Sakura cared really much for his, Sasuke's, opinion. The foolish girl. Maybe he should just take her with him somewhere, force her to relax and realize the strain she was putting on herself would be too much for her eventually. Since when he'd come to care, Sasuke didn't really know, but he did and so, when they sat down Friday evening after having put the children to bed, Sakura sinking exhausted into the couch, Sasuke asked:

"Sakura, how much work do you do each day?"

"Hm? Um, eight hours each day I think I'm scheduled for, though it's often more like 13+ hours I think. I'm the head doctor y'know, I always have a lot to do." She gave a dry laugh before questioning, "Why do you ask though? My hours of work don't affect you as far as I know?" She peeked over at him to where he sat just beside her.

"Hn, already being exhausted before coming on a mission is never good."

Suddenly, her eyes widened, as she shot up and alarmed asked, "What d'you mean? Is it a burden to you then? Am I not doing my job good enough?"

Sasuke just blinked lazily at her. "That wasn't what I said. I just said that it's not smart to already be tired and then going on a mission. And I thought you were supposed to be the doctor, tch." He smirked, looking at the blank TV-screen.

"Oh, ah, I guess?" Sakura was confused. Was Sasuke joking with her?

"Tch, annoying," he muttered. "You do have some time off though, right?"

Really, since when had Sasuke become so interested in her working life? "Oh, yes, of course. I luckily have this weekend off, the first in months actually," she muttered the last part to herself. "Though I often end up getting called in anyways because something has happened. I think I was supposed to have last weekend off actually, or maybe the one before that, but I got called in again just as soon as I'd gotten home so I doubt this weekend will be any different." She sighed, but then smiled. "Don't worry about me Sasuke-kun, I'll be fine, I always am."

Ignoring her last statement, he said: "But if they didn't know where you are, then they couldn't call you in, right?"

"Um, I guess not? But, since when did you care?" Yes, since when did he care? The question hung in the air for a minute or two before Sakura, smiling almost sadly, took a hold of the TV remote and turned the TV on. And so, for the next hours, while he pretended to watch some movie that went on the television, Sasuke had an internal battle with himself about what to do. He felt conflicted, both with what he was feeling and why he was feeling like he was, but finally, just at the credits started rolling over the screen, Sasuke made up his mind about what to do.

He looked over to his left to talk to Sakura, only to find her fast asleep on the couch, head gently resting on one of her feet that she had curled up in front of herself. For a moment Sasuke couldn't help but just stare at her while she slept, thinking about how peaceful she looked, like she didn't have a care in the world. As he opened his mouth to talk, the front door opened and the parents came home, the mother cheerfully coming over to greet them. When she noticed that Sakura was still asleep on the couch, she just smiled instead, silently mouthing a 'good evening' to Sasuke while she watched Sakura.

Sasuke was about to wake Sakura up, but the mother just shook her head and instead, whispering, suggested he carry her home instead. It was already pretty late and few people were out, and by what Sasuke had heard of Sakura's workdays he did feel like she deserved all sleep she could get. Carefully, Sasuke picked her up bridal style, and carried her out of the living room, towards the outer hallway where they had their shoes. The mother helped with giving him Sakura's shoes and jacket while the father held the door open for them.

"Thank you so much for watching over our children these days, it has been a real pleasure having you here, Uchiha-san," the mother whispered smiling. "Take care, both of you, and give Haruno-san too our gratitude when she wakes up."

"Aa, I will." Sasuke replied. They said their good nights and Sasuke went on his way, still carrying Sakura. As it was colder outside than the inside had been, Sakura soon stirred, even though the mother had placed her jacket on her.

"S-Sasuke-kun?" She asked, quite disoriented. "What's happening?" The heaviness of sleep, added to her earlier exhaustion and tiredness had Sakura wanting to go back to sleep again, but she also needed to know what was happening, and where Sasuke was taking her.

He looked down at her. "The parents returned, but since you were sleeping the mother didn't want to wake you up and so I ended up carrying you home." Sasuke didn't say anything about how he hadn't wanted to wake her up either, nor how giddy the mother had seemed over Sasuke carrying Sakura home.

"Oh, really?" Sakura blinked some times, looking around. "But this isn't my way home?"

"Aa," Sasuke smirked. "I'm abducting you." 'So that you won't have to be called in tomorrow,' his mind finished for him.

"Huh?" She stared confused at him. "But, I-"

"Sleep, Sakura, dark circles doesn't look good on anyone, even not you." She blinked. Was that a backwards compliment? Where was this all coming from? What was going on? Maybe it was just someone with a jutsu though, or maybe she was in a genjutsu. It just didn't make sense for her brain that Sasuke had been joking and was now, in a weird way, complimenting her. Maybe she should check his temperature? Silently, she formed the seal for undoing genjutsu's, muttering a soft 'kai'. When nothing happened besides Sasuke raising his eyebrow at her, Sakura was throughoutly confused.

"Are you sure you're, um, you?" She asked, looking up at him. Sasuke stopped, looking back at her with an unreadable expression. Was he now going to attack her? Maybe he was an enemy ninja with a mission to abduct a medic from Konoha?

"Sakura, do you know how light you actually are? How skinny you're becoming?"

"Um?"

"I am myself yes, and don't know why, but I care, and I don't want to watch you work yourself sick. And that's the way you're headed right now. When was the last time you even ate properly or slept for a full night?"

Sakura looked guilty down on her hands, not really sure what the answer was.

"I don't know why I'm doing this or what I'm feeling, but just let me act on my impulse because you really need some rest. You know it, I know it. Now let's get back to my apartment, it's already pretty dark." He started walking.

"A-are you sure about this, Sasuke-kun? I don't want to be a burden for you," Sakura mumbled, still focusing on her hands.

"Aa," Sasuke grunted. "And then I won't have to follow you around the hospital tomorrow to spend time with you. I know you listen to what I say."

"Spend time? With me?" Sakura looked up at him and, although it was dark, noticed a certain hue of red colour dusting his cheeks.

"Don't make me repeat myself. Now go to sleep, we can figure it out tomorrow."


End file.
